The Diary of a Norwegian Witness of Armenian Genocide Soon to be Published

“Asparez” reports that according to the director of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI) Hayk Demoyan, the diary of a Norwegian missionary discovered by his grandson had recently been delivered to the museum.

During a discussion in the Glendale Public Library, Demoyan told about AGMI’s recent publications and reprints of original sources, collections of newly opened documents, and other works on the massacres in Cilicia in 1909.

Although Turkey employs any means to refuse the genocide, new evidence continues to prove that crime. And the diary of Norwegian witness of Armenian Genocide will soon be translated into Armenian.

“Apart from being a crime against humanity, the genocide committed by Turkey is a genocide against a culture, though it didn’t manage to breach the spirit of the bibliophile nation,” said Demoyan.

Recently, an exhibition dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Armenian typography was held in the Glendale Public Library. During the exhibition were showcased exclusive publications of the 17th-18th centuries brought from the museum of Ararat-Eskijan and some private collections, as well as recent publications of AGMI.

AGMI is planning to publish a series of books and their electronic versions to continue the century-old tradition, said Demoyan. He also told the participants of the discussion how the 400th anniversary of Armenian typography was celebrated 100 years ago. The year also coincided with the 1500th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet. In 1912, those two jubilees were featured on the first pages of a variety of Armenian magazines of Constantinople, Van, Kharberd, and Sebastia.

In those years of cultural development, Armenians planned to establish new theaters, participate in the Olympic Games in Berlin, and address the issue of women rights. But three years later, the genocide carried out by the Ottoman government put their ideas on hold.

[…] On January 19, 1920, the Allied Supreme Council at Paris Conference de facto and on May 11, 1920, at San Remo Conference de jure recognized the Armenian state in Western Armenia as an independent and sovereign state. The state’s boundary with Turkey was the subject of an arbitral award by the United States President Woodrow Wilson on November 22, 1920. However, the State of Western Armenia is not recognized by UN officials as it is occupied by Turkey. […]